Police hunt for a burglar who ducked into sewer system

BY AUSTIN L. MILLERSTAR-BANNER

Wednesday

Jun 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2007 at 7:11 AM

OCALA - The chase was over - or so Officer Matthew Clinker thought.
With nowhere else to go, a burglary suspect on Tuesday dove into a large drainage pipe at Northeast Third Street and Northeast 12th Terrace. Like a flash, he left Clinker behind and disappeared into the darkness.
Thus started an underground cat-and-mouse game that as of Tuesday night had yielded no arrests - just plenty of jokes about Ocala's version of "The Fugitive."
In the popular movie, Harrison Ford is pursued by a hard-charging U.S. Marshal (Tommy Lee Jones) through murky, smelly, dark and rat-infested sewer pipes.
In this case, police don't know who the bad guy is. Cpl. Dustin Keuntjes and his K-9, Dozer, played the Tommy Lee Jones role, descending into a manhole and crawling through some 1,300 feet of Ocala's sewer system looking in vain for the suspect, who remains at large.
Here's what Keuntjes and the dog did find: "A lot of bats, cockroaches, spiders and rats."
According to an Ocala police report, here's how it all started:
Close to 9 a.m. Tuesday, Clinker responded to a burglary report along Northeast 15th Street. He saw a man who fit the description of the burglar riding a bicycle in the 300 block of Northeast 12th Avenue.
Clinker approached the man, but he ditched his bicycle and ran into a nearby yard. After a chase, the officer stopped the man at the large drainage pipe.
Get on the ground, the officer said. The man stopped, placed his hands in the air and got on his hands and knees at the tunnel's entrance.
As Clinker approached, the man scampered away.
Keuntjes and Dozer, who was donated to the department by the Marion County Road Builders Association, emerged soaking wet from the sewer shortly after 10:30 a.m. - minus the slippery suspect.
The corporal said he saw footprints, but couldn't say for sure where the man went.
"There's a lot of different areas he could have went," he said during an interview.
Officers spent most of the morning consulting with city engineers, trying to find the potential exit points the suspect might use. Officers staked out different manholes throughout the area. But they might have missed a spot.
Witnesses at Central Florida State Bank on Silver Springs Boulevard just east of downtown saw a man walking by about 10 a.m. He matched the description of the suspect.
Officers found a manhole cover had been pushed from its hole on Northeast 11th Avenue. They think the man may have emerged there.
Slippery moves apparently are common for this man. According to police, the man on Monday stole a generator from that home on Northeast 15th Street. On Tuesday, the home's owners, Lance Smith, and his son, Charles, pulled into the residence in the nick of time to find the same man holding two spools of wire and a yellow extension cord.
At about 8:20 a.m., the Smiths tried unsuccessfully to prevent the burglar from escaping on a blue and gray 10-speed style mountain bike.
About 20 minutes later, police believe the same man went to a Northeast Sixth Street home, not far from the first burglary site, and tried to remove a 50-foot electrical cord. Homeowner Sandra Graham told the Star-Banner that the man wanted to borrow a shovel so he could move a tree.
"I walked out my back door and there he was. He was very brazen," Graham said.
Graham said the suspect was a tall, thin white man who had a scruffy appearance and bad teeth. He wore a blue T-shirt that had Home Depot written on it, a red ball cap and blue jeans. She said the man was about middle aged.
Police said the northeast area has been plagued with robberies. They are asking residents to lock their vehicles, don't leave valuables in them, lock their doors and secure precious items that are around the home.
Anyone with any information about this case can call the Ocala Police Department at 369-7000, or Crime Stoppers at 368-STOP.
Austin L. Miller may be reached at austin.miller@starbanner.com or 867-4118.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.